Astrology of Today’s News

All eyes are on Russia with the upcoming Saturn Neptune conjunction, a marker of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, of Stalin’s death in 1953 and the break up of the USSR in 1990. If the same astro-pattern holds good then Saturn overtaking Neptune will be the crucial period which means mid 2026 to early 2027.

 That coincides with flags on several of the related charts.

 The Russia 8 December 1991 7.45pm Moscow chart, has a ‘shocking’, explosive, insecure Solar Arc Mars conjunct Uranus mid to late 2026, followed by an equally edgy tr Uranus opposition the Russia Mars in 2027/28.

The Russia 8 November 1917 chart hints at a considerable setback now; a stroke of luck in late 2025 from SA Uranus conjunct the Jupiter; and a similar as above sudden shock tr Uranus square Mars in 2026/27.

 Both charts are showing stress on their respective financial Venuses through 2025/2026.

 Vladimir Putin’s original presidency chart of 31 December 1999 looks due for a major upset late 2025 into early 2026 with Solar Arc Uranus square the Pluto. That could see him topple off his perch (though Kim Jong Un survived through one of these aspects years ago when he very nearly lost control). If that does not do for Putin then the Solar Arc Pluto conjunct the Sun by 2027 could well see him hit the buffers.

 His personal chart, 7 October 1952, is showing alarm at a setback exactly now as Syria’s Assad collapses.

 The Bank of Russia chart 13 July 1990 has been under pressure in the past two years from tr Pluto square the Mars and will continue on edge throughout this year.

Add on: Useful piece in Telegraph January 2 2025.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/01/02/putin-failed-every-objective-in-ukraine-in-2024-russia-war/

“What was planned as a three-day “special operation” has turned into a three-year nightmare. Russia has made only limited territorial gains and Putin’s air defences have been unable to halt Ukrainian strikes inside Russia. The Russian navy has been humiliated, losing control of the Black Sea and unable to strangle Ukraine’s grain exports. Upwards of 15 of its ships have been sunk by sea drones with more damaged. The human toll has been immense with an estimated 427,000 Russian casualties in 2024 alone.

Interest rates have hit 23 per cent with inflation at 9 per cent making long-term economic stagnation seem inevitable.

Putin has risked turning the country into a dependency of the Chinese. The conditions are being set for Moscow’s subordination to Beijing.

  The grisly trial in France  of Dominique Pelicot and fifty others accused of raping his drugged wife Dominique over nine years has ended with guilty verdicts all round. It only came to light when videos were discovered on his computer by police investigating another crime. His wife has been given universal acclaim for her courage in coming forward publicly to back up the accusations.

 I am not altogether convinced by the birth data from wiki and would have expected it being France that birth times might have been available. But on what is given at the moment they were born close together – he 27 November 1952 and she 7 December 1952 – which makes them Sagittarius Suns with Saturn Neptune in Libra square Uranus and a Capricorn Venus. He has an Aries Moon and she a Leo Moon perhaps conjunct Pluto.

  His Venus is close to Chiron which Melanie Rhinehart links with the Psyche Eros love story – of an individual who wishes a relationship without disharmony – which drugs would certainly provide. She remarks “ They may seek out pliable, self-effacing women only to be confronted later on by the full might of an emerging Aphrodite.”

 Gisele has a closer relationship between her Mars and the an Aquarius North Node square Jupiter giving her determination and guts. Her later degree Venus in Capricorn is also more linked to a square to Saturn Neptune.

 But what is most striking in very similar charts are the midpoints. Hers are generally upbeat with her Sun = Jupiter/Uranus and her Jupiter = Mars/North Node. His on the other hand are troubling.

His Sun = Uranus/Neptune and Saturn/Uranus – connected to the elimination of waking consciousness; and self-willed, irritable, prone to violence.

Venus – Sun/Pluto – striving for power through relationships.

Mars = Jupiter/Saturn and Venus/Pluto – a desire to enforce changes ++ rape, a brutal sensuality.

Jupiter = Mars/Pluto – confident in using brutality to achieve aims.

Jupiter = Sun/Neptune and Sun/Saturn – hope for success with no effort.

Saturn = Venus/Mars – ‘abnormal and pathological sex expression’ according to Ebertin.

Pluto = Sun/Jupiter – over confident leading to conflict with authorities.

  If the birth dates are sound the midpoints do make a good deal of sense about the difference between them. 

 Both have Pluto at 23 degrees Leo which is catching the disruptive tr Uranus square exactly as the verdict comes down.

 See previous post: French village – De Sade to Pelicot

15th September 2024

Canada is in political turmoil as Trump, the great disruptor, throws a spoiler into the mix with his promised 25% tariff on all goods and services, causing the Deputy Prime Minister to resign saying that Justin Trudeau was not up to the job of confronting aggressive “America-first” economic nationalism.

  Trudeau’s popularity was already plummeting and the blunt accusations from Chrystia Freeland, long seen as an ally, may well the tipping point which pushes him out. Though with his Mars on the cusp of the 8^th opposition Pluto he won’t give up until the absolutely last gasp.  The decision to step down might be made for him in the new year, if the opposition New Democratic party withdraws its support from his minority government.

 A political commentator remarked (which is a thought to take on board), ““Trump has less of an ideological agenda than he does to disrupt, dismantle and upset a stable political system.”

 The Canada chart, 1 July 1867 12am Ottawa, has tr Neptune and Saturn square the late Gemini Moon for a  depressed and discouraged electorate early in 2025 and on this start time Pluto moving into the 11^th is hinting at a change in hopes for the future.  But nothing much else showing in planetary aspects until 2027 when tr Uranus squares the Mars and 2028/9 when tr Neptune squares the Sun Uranus in Cancer which will be unsettling and directionless.

 The Bank of Canada chart, 11 March 1935,  has one marginally upbeat tr Uranus opposition Jupiter later this month to middle March 2025 with more problems brewing in 2026/27 with a jarring tr Uranus square Saturn; and a total road-blocked SA Pluto conjunct Mars.

Trudeau’s relationship with Trump is in bad shape early in 2025 with tr Neptune conjunct the composite Sun and square Saturn.  With Trump’s relationship chart with Canada troubled for longer – with tr Neptune square the Jupiter opposition Pluto Uranus and then Sun and then Venus from now right through the next administration. Undermining and disappointing.

 Justin Trudeau, 25 December 1971 9.27pm Ottawa, has a repeat from last summer of the failure-ridden tr Neptune conjunct his Mars in Pisces this coming March 2025. That coincides with two of his rivals Poilievre and Freeland having ‘lucky’ break’ midpoints so it may point to his departure. Tr Uranus is conjunct his Midheaven for a change of career direction from May 2025 onwards. Tr Neptune then continues on to oppose Trudeau’s Pluto from June and throughout 2026 – so a long slide downhill. He’ll be jangled and jolted by tr Uranus conjunct his 10^th house Saturn from July 2025 onwards. With more disappointment and losses from tr Neptune square his Capricorn Sun in 2026.

 Neither of his two rivals looks particularly upbeat (without birth times) moving ahead in 2025.

 Canada and Trump really is the greatest worry with the Bank of Canada chart hinting at considerable problems ahead.

Matt Goss is back in the UK after an 11 year solo Vegas residency talking sadly of the estrangement from his twin brother Luke, formerly part of the teen sensation Bros in the late 1980s. They were the biggest band in Britain, peroxide bombshells in leather jackets with eight Top 10 singles. Then they split acrimoniously since apparently, Luke was jealous that Matt got more attention. They reformed for a 2016 London concert, the subject of a documentary in which the brothers scream at one another.

 Since they are twins and the birth times are available it is interesting to see what a difference ten minutes can make. Their early life was not easy with their parents splitting up when they were five and they moved house 11 times as children.

 Luke is the elder, born 29 September 1968 6.11 pm Lewisham, England, with a rebellious, independent-minded Sun Uranus in Libra in his 7^th house of relationships. He has a confident, strong-minded Jupiter Pluto conjunction on his Descendant and an intense, secretive Venus on the cusp of his 8^th.

 Matt born 6.21pm has his Jupiter Pluto in his hard-working 6^th – with his Uranus conjunct his Descendant. Neither will find compromise easy with a Sun Uranus conjunction – and both will be keen to be seen as important with Jupiter Pluto conjunct, marginally more so in the case of Luke. Both have problems with identity with a 1^st house Chiron. A yod onto a forced-to-be-self-reliant Saturn in Aries inconjunct Neptune and Jupiter Pluto hints at the need for maturity to make it work well.

  A North Node in Aries also hints at a need to walk an independent road in life.

  Not designed to be a twosome.

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The horror story of Sara Sharif’s life was laid bare in court with her father and stepmother finally found guilty of her murder after years of abuse and torture. The judge described the 10-year-old was as “a very courageous little girl with an unquenchable spirit” who loved to sing and dance. A postmortem found she had 71 external injuries, including bruises, burns, and human bite marks. She also had at least 25 fractures, including to the hyoid bone in her neck and 11 to her spine from being beaten with a cricket bat, metal pole and mobile phone. Her father and stepmother who fled to Pakistan after her death have both been given life sentences.

  She was born on 11 January 2013 and immediately made subject to a child protection plan due to existing concerns about her parents. She was briefly placed into foster care in 2014 and later a refuge after her biological mother, Olga Domin, accused her father Sharif of domestic abuse. Sara returned to live with her father after a family court ruling in October 2019. ?? Why? There is pressure to name the judges who returned her to her father. An inexperienced social worker was assigned to her case recently.

 She wore a hijab headscarf when she was at school which hid the evidence of her brutal treatment and was latterly home schooled to keep her away from prying eyes.

 The usual litany of ‘lessons will be learned’ is hardly sufficient. The judges who gave her father custody should be named and told to explain their reasons. Hijabs should be banned in school – she was evidently the only one in the family who was forced to wear one – as should home schooling especially where ill treatment is suspected.

She was born 11 January 2013 and had a stellium in Capricorn of Sun, Mercury Moon and Pluto. She had one upbeat yod of Pluto sextile Saturn in Scorpio inconjunct Jupiter which would be what gave her an enthusiastic, optimistic streak. Plus another yod of Uranus sextile Jupiter inconjunct Saturn which is marginally trickier. But what sits across her chart is Saturn square Mars which does suggest cruelty and ill treatment and could have been emphasized depending on house position.

  Her father Urfan Sharif, 25 November 1981, a Sun Sagittarius has a heavyweight Saturn, Pluto, Jupiter in Libra which squared Sara’s Sun so he would want to quench her challenging spirit, given his comments on ‘justified punishments’.

 Her step mother Beinash Batool, 14 July 1994, a highly strung Sun Cancer opposition Uranus Neptune in Capricorn would also clash with Sara’s Capricorn Sun.

 On the relationship charts with her father Irfan there is a total-domination composite Mars Pluto conjunction and with her stepmother Mars trine Pluto and a Mars square Saturn – and perhaps significantly her stepmother’s Pluto was exactly conjunct Sara’s Scorpio North Node.

  Too depressing for words.

China has run into a setback of considerable proportions as of now with similar financial concerns as elsewhere ahead.

  The China 1 January 1912 chart has the Progressed Mars opposition the Sun at the moment which will throw obstacles in its path to progress; with jolts and upsets in later March to May 2025; followed by a devastating Solar Arc Pluto square Neptune in 2026/27 alongside an insecure, explosive SA Uranus conjunct Mars. So it will have a bumpy ride as it adjusts to the new era.

 The Bank of China chart, 1 December 1948, will be particularly susceptible to tr Neptune Saturn first square the BoC Uranus and then square their upbeat Mars Jupiter in Capricorn through into 2026 which will damp economic confidence considerably.

Xi Jinping’s 3^rd Term, 23 October 2022, and his initial presidency from 14 March 2013 both have a key planet which will catch the tr Neptune Saturn hard aspect before mid 2025 into 2026. His 3^rd Term is flagging up disappointment exactly now.

 Relations with the UK have always been an uneasy balance. The power-struggling yod of Jupiter sextile Uranus inconjunct Pluto is under pressure exactly now from tr Pluto square the focal point Pluto; and will be unsettled when tr Uranus moves into Gemini in July 2025 tugging on one leg of the yod followed in 2026/27 by tr Saturn Neptune opposition the Jupiter – and square the composite Saturn. Nothing that will improve relations and the unrest/suspicion continues almost to the end of the decade.

The EU similarly will be jolted in its relationships with China July to November 2025 with an aggravated tr Uranus square the composite Mars Saturn conjunction. Never a great connection at best it will be knocked off track and in a state of upheaval through 2026/27.

With Russia there will be undermining moments through 2025 with the power imbalance showing.

 Iran, perhaps because on internal unrest, will not be providing its usual input of cheer.

 With the USA 2026 looks the year of anxiety and tensions though nothing too dramatic.

  The UK is facing a crunch point of its own with the 8^th house Mars about to be detonated by Solar Arc Uranus over the coming few months. The 8^th house rules international and business finances as well as deeper transformations. In the past when the UK Mars was under pressure it also accompanied significant disasters – train crashes, ferry sinkings, subway fires and the like. Uranus Mars tends to suggest a shock or an experience that feels like a collision.

 Tr Uranus is also in a high tension square to the 11^th house Saturn in Leo, which rules the legislature and local government as well as the country’s long term hopes, later this month till mid March 2025 for the final time. In one sense this will be a relief once it passes over since it finishes a four year bumpy patch of tr Uranus in hard aspect to the UK’s four Fixed planets. Though there will be continued pressure for change with tr Pluto trine the Uranus till 2025 year end. Luckily side by side tr Pluto will oppose the UK Jupiter for some moments of high confidence and cheer also throughout 2025.

  Into mid 2026 tr Uranus will square the UK Pluto for another jolting change and upheaval – and by early 2027 tr Uranus will have cleared the UK’s 8^th house so (cross fingers) the economic storms wrought by Uranus in Taurus and to a degree initiated by Pluto in Capricorn may settle thereafter.  

  Towards the end of the decade tr Neptune Saturn will move into the UK 7^th house for a revisioning of close partnerships – some separating, others coming together with a common purpose. Tr Pluto moving into the UK 5^th from 2029 starts a long phase of being creative and building a solid image.

  The Bank of England, 27 July 1694 JC, is certainly flagging up problems through 2025 with tr Neptune in an uncertain square to the BoE Saturn through February but much worse tr Neptune and Saturn will oppose the BoE Mars in Libra and then square the financial Venus from April 2025 on and off till early 2027, which looks like major panics over the economy. It may pick up a smidgeon in 2026 and more so in 2027 with a resurgence of confidence from tr Pluto opposition the Pluto/Jupiter midpoint and after that the Jupiter. But there will be a downer before the improvement.

 There could well be a reset of relations with the EU since that relationship chart has tr Uranus conjunct the composite Pluto from 2026 onwards, which could well (perhaps) bring improvements in trade.

The Keir Starmer Government, 5 July 2024,  a Water heavy Cancerian/Pisces chart with a New Moon and Venus in Cancer and Saturn Neptune in Pisces will not find the transition into the new Air Fire era easy to negotiate. Plus the explosive, unpredictable and uncompromising Mars Uranus in the economic/financial 8^th house always did bode trouble on the housekeeping side. Neptune conjunct the shipwrecking Scheat and the South Node conjunct the mischief-making and can-be-unlucky Vindemiatrix won’t help.

  Starmer’s personal chart has a confused and devastated Solar Arc Pluto conjunct his Neptune exactly now with an undermining SA Sun conjunct Neptune following in 2025. Then his Solar Arc Mars is conjunct his Sun and Pluto which looks terminal on the career progress front through later 2025 into 2026. One way or another he is heading nowhere good.

ADD ON: In varying degrees the current Cabinet will be reacting badly to tr Saturn Neptune moving into Aries and tr Uranus moving into Gemini mid year – since most have key planets in early Cardinal and early Mutable which will be undermined and jolted over the next two/three years.

 Starmer’s relationship chart with Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor with a yod of Pluto in last degree Virgo sextile Neptune Sun Venus in early Sagittarius inconjunct Mars will be pushed and pulled right through 2025 and 2026.

 Ed Milliband with his 2 degree Capricorn Sun and 2 degree Saturn in Taurus in a none-too-stable opposition to Jupiter will find the next two years an uphill struggle and disappointing.

An elemental shift from Earth Water to Air Fire in 2025 and beyond will pose challenges for the USA’s stellium in Cancer. Cancer dislikes letting go, tends to airbrush the past, gets overly defensive when criticized, tends to be conservative and traditional in outlook and views detached Aquarius as a liberally-minded rebel and a threat to family togetherness.

  In Sun sign astrology, Pluto into Aquarius will be moving through Cancer’s 8^th house of economy and finances. Saturn Neptune in Aries through Cancer’s 10^th house of direction in life and reputation. Uranus into Gemini through Cancer’s 12^th house. A time of introspection with the hope of a significant emotional adjustment vis a vis priorities will be the hint of the planets and almost certainly ignored initially by Trump and co.  Although this is a superficial astro-analysis it is backed up by economic problems flagging up in other charts

  On the USA 4 July 1776 11am Philadelphia chart, having just emerged from the Pluto Return, two key influences stand out.

 Firstly: the Solar Arc Saturn which was conjunct the USA Mars a few months back which brought a shock and a collision-like experience will move on to square the US Neptune exact in 9 months which will bring an uncertain mood and confusion of considerable proportions. Then the Solar Arc Sun will square the US Mars in 16 months and square the US Neptune into 2027. So an extended period of crisis and a gamechanger in terms of historical direction. When two key configurations in a chart collide by Solar Arc it is a time at the crossroads when events compel a change of direction.

Secondly: Neptune in Aries will square the USA financial Venus from July 2025 and by 2026 tr Saturn conjunct tr Neptune will square the Venus and Jupiter in Cancer; and tr Saturn will square the USA Sun. Neptune is usually undermining when it comes to finances so high hopes may be dented; more so by 2026 when downbeat Saturn joins in.

 Jupiter moving into Cancer from July 2025 to June 2026 will offset certain problems, giving a mood lift at times. Though the Jupiter square Saturn seesaw will continue in operation until mid 2026 with its good news, bad news modus operandi.

 Tr Uranus moving into Gemini after mid 2025 won’t reach the USA Uranus Return until 2027 which is when tr Pluto is opposition the Leo North Node – the latter may sound obscure but it is a sensitive trigger point for the USA’s ambitions to be seen as the world’s superpower.

The USA Federal Reserve chart, 16 November 1914 9am Washington, DC, will be rattled later this month to mid March 2025 with tr Uranus opposition his Scorpio Sun. But it is tr Neptune Saturn moving into Aries and squaring the Saturn Pluto at one degree Cancer from May 2025 onwards, on and off into 2026 which will cause major concerns. Followed by a debilitating Solar Arc Neptune conjunct the Fed Res Sun in 2026 along with an insecure tr Uranus opposition the Fed Res Mars. An economically worrisome and challenging time.

 The Supreme Court, 2 February 1790 New York, will catch a couple of lucky breaks (whatever that means) when tr Uranus squares the Mars Jupiter from April 2025 on and off until early 2026. Where it hits a fork in the road will be late 2026 with the Solar Arc Uranus conjunct the yod focal planet Venus. Into 2027 tr Pluto will oppose the Uranus for a major upheaval. The pressure for change will continue into the next decade with tr Uranus conjunct the Venus focal point at the same time as tr Pluto is conjunct the SCOTUS Sun and Pluto picking up in 2032 running to 2035. This will bring a deconstruction and hopefully a reconstruction though against huge resistance since the SCOTUS chart is very Fixed.

  The 2025 Inauguration chart of January 20 with Sun Pluto in the 10^th opposition Mars on the IC does suggest an over controlling administration and a discontented citizenry. The 6^th house Moon will put an emphasis on health especially the health support systems with positive advances from Moon trine Jupiter and negative ones from Moon inconjunct Saturn. There is a publicity attracting Neptune trine Mars which sextiles onto a 1^st house Uranus hinting at an unreasonable desire for personal freedom without moderation or common sense. Unpredictability will be the hallmark of the Trump Term Mark 11.

  The administration will run into road blocks later in 2025 as the Solar Arc Sun closes the conjunction to Pluto to exact; and late in 2026 with an unpopular SA Saturn conjunct the Neptune.

   The imponderable is Trump who has an astonishing capacity to absorb punishment and a lethal diet and keep marching on. He has one more tr Uranus square his Mars late April to mid May 2025 which can accompany shocks or health issues in the elderly. The previous one flagged up his near shooting.  He is also awash with undermining, confused Neptune from his SA Neptune conjunct his Moon within months and then opposition his Sun throughout 2026.

Dorothy Parker, the original Queen of Mean, with acerbic one liners that went down in history, eventually ended up in Hollywood. A new biography which relates her later years shows her as a brilliant wit and wasted talent, as she never overcame her addiction to carousing and alcohol.

  Behind the piercing wit she was sad, at times suicidal. But despite her best self-destructive efforts she lived to be 73. She was born 22 August 1893  at 9.50pm West End, New Jersey. Her mother died when she was four and she inherited a hated stepmother giving her a rebellious streak. Her convent school expelled her for announcing that “the Virgin Mary’s immaculate conception was likely a case of spontaneous combustion”. Her early career as a Vogue writer – “Brevity is the soul of lingerie, as the Petticoat said to the Chemise” saw her move smartly on to Vanity Fair as a savage theatre critic. Once in California she became politically engaged, helped establish the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League, and travelled to Spain to report on the civil war. Later the FBI put her under surveillance for suspected communist tendencies.

 As her alcoholism took grip she ended up living in filth and eating raw bacon because she couldn’t be bothered to cook. Her second husband did his best to rescue her.

  She had an extraordinary chart with a Sun Mars in Virgo in her performing 5^th house, no doubt giving her the acerbic edge which brought her fame. Especially since that squared a Jupiter, Pluto, Neptune stellium in Gemini, which in turn was trine Venus and Saturn in Libra.

 Her Uranus in Scorpio was in an outspoken square to her Mercury in Leo; and she had a yod of Uranus sextile a Capricorn Moon inconjunct Pluto Neptune.

  That Neptune Pluto in Gemini did produce some singular talents but had a tendency to obsessiveness and was not entirely mentally stable.

  Odd about living in filth, eating raw bacon with a Virgo Sun.

Add On:  Her second marriage to actor/writer Alan Campbell, 21 February 1904, was tempestuous. She drank and he had a long-term affair with a married woman and was bi-sexual. They divorced in 1947, remarried in 1950, then separated in 1952, only reconcile in 1961 and collaborated on several unproduced projects until he died from a drug overdose in 1963.

 She had her Sun/Moon midpoint conjunct her Uranus natally so was not really designed for stable, committed monogamy. But even so their relationship chart was a train wreck of sado-masochistic fury and resentment with a composite Mars Pluto opposition Saturn and a needs-space composite Sun opposition Uranus.

  He was a Sun Pisces opposition her Virgo Sun Mars with his creative Venus conjunct her Midheaven so her successful career would be an attraction for him.

Dorothy Parker quotes.

“The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.”

“Time may be a great healer, but it’s a lousy beautician.”

“If you don’t have anything nice to say, come sit by me.”

“Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye.”

“If you want to know what God thinks about money, just look at the people He gives it to.”

“Never throw mud: you can miss the target, but your hands will remain dirty.”

“The only dependable law of life – everything is always worse than you thought it was going to be.”

“This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.”

If you wear a short enough skirt, the party will come to you.”

 “I like to have a martini/Two at the very most/After three I’m under the table/After four I’m under my host.”

“A hangover is the wrath of grapes.”

“I’m not a writer with a drinking problem, I’m a drinker with a writing problem.”

Add On: Just an en passant. Kim Keon-hee, the wife of the now impeached South Korea leader, is described as a Lady Macbeth figure, described as a “rich, outspoken, childless woman.” It is thought his disastrous move to impose martial law was a means of protecting his wife from investigation and potential prosecution.

  She was born 2 September 1972 and like Dorothy Parker has a Sun Mars conjunction in Virgo.